{"id":6936,"date":"2017-10-30T09:55:56","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T13:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6936"},"modified":"2017-10-30T10:03:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T14:03:33","slug":"the-virginia-nelson-playbills-collection-west-side-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6936","title":{"rendered":"The Virginia Nelson Playbills Collection – West Side Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello there! Amanda here, reporting from Special Collections Research Center (SCRC.) As some of you may know, SCRC has many collecting strengths – from Transportation, local D.M.V. history, and of course, the Performing Arts, both local to the Washington D.C. Metro Area and across the country. Some highlights from our collections include the Federal Theatre Project collection<\/a> and the Arena Stage records<\/a>, which are large in scope and size. One smaller collection (albeit no less interesting) I had the pleasure of working with recently was the Virginia Nelson playbills collection<\/a>. As an avid lover of the Performing Arts (particularly musical theater and ballet) it was a blast to acquaint myself with the collection and to improve and add to the finding aid. <\/span><\/p>\n

As my colleagues can attest (thanks to my many squeals of delight) Virginia Nelson experienced some groundbreaking moments in Theatre, perhaps without even knowing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Leonard Bernstein outside the National Theatre in Washington, DC Robert H. Phillips, photographer. Leonard Bernstein Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress (27) Courtesy of the estate of the photographer. Source: Library of Congress.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

As the nation\u2019s capitol, Washington, D.C. is home to some of the finest performance venues in the United States and across the globe. D.C. and the surrounding metro area is undoubtedly a performing arts hub, and has birthed innovative theatrical companies, from Arena Stage to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, to Signature Theatre and the Folger Theatre. It\u2019s no wonder then that some of Theatre\u2019s greatest moments have occurred here, one of which was the premiere of <\/span>West Side Story<\/span><\/i> at the National Theatre – one of musical theater\u2019s most beloved and enduring works.\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Composed by the great Leonard Bernstein, lyrics and book by legendary Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents, respectively, as well as choreography by the incredible Jerome Robbins of the New York City Ballet, <\/span>West Side Story<\/span><\/i> is a modern take on <\/span>Romeo and Juliet. <\/span><\/i>F<\/span>eaturing a bitter gang rivalry between the white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks in New York City\u2019s West Side during the 1950s, amidst the fray are two star-crossed lovers – Maria and Tony. The pair fall in love, are met with tragedy, and sing some of the most memorable songs in the Musical Theater canon. Before its Broadway debut, <\/span>West Side Story<\/span><\/i> premiered at the National Theatre in D.C. in 1957, and was met with rave reviews. Virginia Nelson was lucky enough to attend this pre-run of the show, and her playbill is present within the collection. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"In the playbill itself, you can see the original <\/span>West Side Story<\/span><\/i> cast\u2019s bios, including Carol Lawrence, Larry Kert, and Chita Rivera. The front cover includes perhaps the most famous image from the promotional campaign taken by <\/span>Friedman-Abeles*<\/span>, of Maria (Lawrence) pulling Tony (Kert) along a New York City street, exuberant and in love.\u00a0West Side Story<\/em> would move on to premiere at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City, and was eventually adapted into a film in 1961 starring Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, and Russ Tamblyn, which brought the musical even wider attention, and is considered a classic in its own right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This playbill is just one example of the many performances Virginia Nelson attended over the course of the 20th century, and is a wondrous example of performing arts history, not just in Washington, D.C., but the world at large. <\/span><\/p>\n

Addendum<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Photograph by Amanda Brent.<\/p><\/div>\n

I had my own special moment with <\/span>West Side Story<\/span> back in June 2014, which underwent a successful Broadway revival in 2009. I was able to see the touring production at the National Theatre, and due to the theater’s history with the show, they reproduced the original production’s marquee, which I made sure to document. Needless to say, it was a magical evening.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources<\/em><\/p>\n

*https:\/\/www.nypl.org\/blog\/2017\/02\/22\/moving-pictures-west-side-story<\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/exhibits\/westsidestory\/westsidestory-exhibit.html<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow SCRC on Social Media at our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0accounts. To search the collections\u00a0held at Special Collections Research Center, go to our\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0and browse the finding aids by subject or title. You may also e-mail\u00a0us at\u00a0speccoll@gmu.edu<\/a>\u00a0or call 703-993-2220 if you would like to\u00a0schedule an appointment, request materials, or if you have questions. Appointments are not necessary to request and view collections.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello there! Amanda here, reporting from Special Collections Research Center (SCRC.) As some of you may know, SCRC has many collecting strengths – from Transportation, local D.M.V. history, and of course, the Performing Arts, both local to the Washington D.C. Metro Area and across the country. Some highlights from our collections include the Federal Theatre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101014,"featured_media":6938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,121],"tags":[541,540,422,75],"class_list":["post-6936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scrc-interest","category-scrc-picks","tag-musical-theater","tag-performing-arts","tag-processing","tag-theater"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_0293-e1507823914143.jpg?fit=2448%2C3264&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-1NS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9007,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9007","url_meta":{"origin":6936,"position":0},"title":"“Showing Us Our Own Face”: Performing Arts and the Human Experience","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"January 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Performance is a uniquely human quality. 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And I got a great collection to jump into.\u00a0 The materials belonged to a late GMU\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Finding Aids"","block_context":{"text":"New Finding Aids","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=710"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eight playbills for different theater shows are laid out on a wooden table.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7961,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7961","url_meta":{"origin":6936,"position":2},"title":"New and Updated Finding Aids","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"September 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The SCRC Processing Team has been hard at work processing and re-processing collections, which means we have some brand spankin' new and updated finding aids! Find out more below! The Randolph H. Lytton Historical Virginia collection This collection was processed by Processing Student Assistant Bill Keeler. \"Fairfax County was originally\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fairfax History"","block_context":{"text":"Fairfax History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=194"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2417,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=2417","url_meta":{"origin":6936,"position":3},"title":"Plays in mind","author":"admin","date":"June 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"In anticipation of the \u201cPlaywrights in Mind: A National Conversation\u201d conference being held at Mason June 9-12, I thought it appropriate to introduce two playbills I find fascinating in Special Collections. Buck White and La Strada were two short-lived plays with big stars that opened and closed in December of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SCRC Picks"","block_context":{"text":"SCRC Picks","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=121"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/laStrada2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8118,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=8118","url_meta":{"origin":6936,"position":4},"title":"Reprocessing Adventures – The Zelda Fichandler Papers","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"December 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was written by Bill Keeler, Processing Student Assistant. Bill is studying History with a focus in American History at George Mason University. Since processing the\u00a0Randolph H. 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